


glass of the sea

by Addison R (beyond_belief)



Series: an effort in a direction [1]
Category: Shetland (TV)
Genre: Drinking & Talking, Gen, Pre-Relationship, Vacation, casual touching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-16
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:21:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28113792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beyond_belief/pseuds/Addison%20R
Summary: A weekend in Spain.
Relationships: Duncan Hunter & Jimmy Perez
Series: an effort in a direction [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2059593
Comments: 7
Kudos: 41
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	glass of the sea

**Author's Note:**

  * For [idareu2bme](https://archiveofourown.org/users/idareu2bme/gifts).



> Happy holidays, idareu2bme! I hope you enjoy this pair of stories that diverge from the "Raven Black" episodes.

"You're thinking this was a bad idea," Duncan says to him, pressing a cold glass into Jimmy's hand at the same time. A warm breeze gusts over the balcony they're on, shaded enough from the northern Spanish sun that Jimmy doesn't need to wear his (bought especially for this trip, it's not often sunny enough for them in Shetland) brand-new sunglasses to watch Cassie and her friend Maureen heading out into the beach below with an umbrella they're planning to stake into the sand. 

"I am not."

"It's all right if you are; to be honest, I wouldn't expect anything less."

"Hey," Jimmy protests lightly, and sees Duncan chuckling. 

"No, I understand that you've a hard time turning off the work part of your brain." Duncan taps his own temple with the hand not holding his own glass. "But I thought the point of this trip was to relax. Enjoy the change in scenery."

The sun-soaked beach is about as big a change as any from the grey and drizzling skies they'd left yesterday. The trip was Duncan's suggestion, which means it was more than likely Cassie's suggestion, but Jimmy decided to let that one lie, and instead thought about how many days he'd been back and forth to Aberdeen in the last few weeks, with Jackie Haldane's trial. 

He takes a sip of whatever it is Duncan's handed him - fizzy water, fruit juice of some sort, something definitely alcoholic. Their suite has a well-stocked mini-fridge. "And before you say it," Duncan adds, "we're on holiday, so it's not too early for a drink."

It's just past noon. Everyone slept in; Cassie and Maureen were sharing a room in Maureen's parents' suite, having been here for two days already. That left the two rooms in this one for Jimmy and Duncan. As always, it had taken Jimmy a while to fall asleep in a bed not his own, and he figured he wasn't the only one when it was going on ten and their entire group was still in pyjamas and talking about if they should be ordering up breakfast or the full mid-day meal. 

Duncan's pyjamas were an actual matching set. "Only on holiday," he said dryly to Jimmy, before going into the shared loo. 

"Aye, don't remember you trying to look as put-together when you'd come down to Glasgow," Jimmy called through the door, and heard Duncan's laugh. 

"I wasn't going to say it," he replies now. Duncan's bright smile almost feels like a reward. "And you are right, a different view for a few days is a good thing. Let a little warmth soak my bones for once."

Duncan's now stretched out in the other lounger, eyes half-closed. "Nice to see Cass happy."

"It is." She's still in view on the beach; they've managed to get the umbrella seated firmly in the sand despite the breeze. "She been all right, at your place?"

"We get on fine." He turns his head, and Jimmy sees the quirk of his mouth. "I know you think I'm too lax most of the time, but she's a good kid. Got a good head on her shoulders."

"Ach, Duncan, I'm not looking to read you the riot act while on holiday," Jimmy chuckles, amusement warm in his chest, or maybe it's the rum. "Relax and enjoy it."

Duncan laughs outright at that. He doesn't have to reach far to touch his glass to Jimmy's. "Cheers to that."

*

"Are you both going to sit up here the whole time you're on holiday?" Cassie asks, sticking her head out the open balcony door and frowning at them.

"Ah, but we're comfortable here," Duncan answers, not opening his eyes. He's slouched even further in the chair, hands resting on his belly, and for the last five minutes Jimmy's been wondering if he's actually asleep. Apparently not. "Less chance of sunburn."

"You're such Shetlanders," she replies, but she's grinning. She's starting to tan already and Jimmy has no doubt she and Maureen have done nothing but lie out on the beach the last two days. "Dad, did you bring any more sun cream?"

Jimmy's also not inclined to move right now. "There's another tube in the side pocket of my bag."

"We'll come down to the beach later," Duncan says. "After supper."

"Are we all eating together in the hotel restaurant?" Cassie asks. "What time?"

"Whenever Duncan can be arsed to get out of his lounger," Jimmy answers, watching Duncan's expression twitch in both annoyance and amusement. "So definitely not for a while yet."

He sees Cassie roll her eyes. "I'll tell Maureen's mum to bang on the door."

"Sounds good, Cass," Duncan murmurs, and Cassie huffs and disappears back through the door, presumably to find the sun cream. A minute later, Jimmy hears the door of the suite closing again.

*

By the time they've shared what seems like two dozen small plates between the six of them, Jimmy is pleasantly drunk. He shakes his head when Kirstin and Callum suggest another pitcher of sangria. "I think I'd fall asleep right into my plate," he says, cutting his spoon through the fruit and custard tart that was served as dessert.

"Hard not to be a lightweight when you're always on duty," Duncan says, his tone implying he's clearly teasing. "Sorry, Kirstin, I think I'm out as well. Don't want to be so sloshed I cannae get a swim in now that it's a little less crowded out there."

The number of tourists out on the beach has indeed thinned out; Jimmy figures most have gone in for a meal and to wind down for the evening. Cassie and Maureen begged off after a few plates, wanting to visit the small stretch of shops next to the hotel before it got too dark and everything closed, so it's only the four of them still sitting around the outdoor table. Jimmy knows he should probably stop eating the tart, but it's delicious, all citrus and cream, and there's something relaxing about savoring every bite in a way he normally wouldn't. 

"Well, maybe we'll get one sent up to the room, then," Callum replies. They say their goodbyes, Duncan insisting he'll take care of the bill, as Jimmy leans back in his chair and traces the spoon over the plate. 

"You seem lost in thought," Duncan says, when they're alone. 

Jimmy shakes his head. "More like, lost in all that sangria. Between that and the rum thing you plied me with all afternoon - "

"I don't remember forcing you to drink it -" 

" - I'll sleep well tonight, I imagine." He sets down the spoon. 

Duncan picks it up, eats the last bite Jimmy left on the plate. "Come on, we should visit the beach before our daughter gives us any more shite about being old, boring pale Northerners who won't so much as look at the sun."

"It's gone down," Jimmy points out, but he gets up anyway.

*

The beach _is_ nice. The sand is a soft sort, and it's still warm under his feet from the all-day sun. Jimmy feels an entire world away from gray drizzle and courtrooms and the evidence pictures of Hattie James' wrists. Soon he won't ever have to look at those photographs again.

"Something bothering you, Jimmy?" Duncan asks quietly. They've been walking in the sand fairly close together, mismatched in swim shorts and t-shirts. The suite key is zipped into a pocket of Jimmy's shorts and Duncan's holding a bundle of towels and a flask. 

"Not so much a bother as... I guess I needed a bit of a break more than I thought." He takes a deep breath of the warm air and looks at the ocean, where it swirls with the evening sky, lavender melting into a much darker blue. It seems like the moon is growing brighter by the moment. "So thanks, for bullying me into this."

"If I hadn't, Cassie would have, surely." Duncan stops walking, so Jimmy stops. "Here's good, eh?"

There's still a light warm breeze, and it ripples Duncan's clothes against the angular lines of his body. Jimmy's glad for his presence, suddenly; glad for someone else to care about Cassie just as much as he does, glad for the company he knows he can count on even when they're out of sorts with each other about something, glad for Duncan sitting beside him all day and not asking him to talk about anything at all unless he feels like it. 

"Here's good," Jimmy agrees.

They spread out the towels and sit down. The heat of the sand soaks through the material and into his skin and, after a moment, Jimmy takes another of the towels and rolls it up to put under his head, stretching out so that he can feel the warmth in his back and shoulders as well. "Roll me back up to the room if I fall asleep," he murmurs to Duncan, and hears Duncan's low chuckle. 

He registers Duncan lying down next to him, close enough that their arms brush. "Someone'll have to roll us both back up." A huffed breath. "Don't even notice the weather at home until we're not in it."

"Mmm," Jimmy agrees. He feels himself relax even more, muscles loosening. He can hear the other people still on the darkening beach: voices shouting happily, people splashing in the water, the occasional call from the lifeguard. It feels both very close and very far away at the same time.

*

"Maybe more whisky was a bad choice, even for me," Duncan groans, leaning against the wall as Jimmy tries to get the key from the pocket he zipped it in. "You shouldn't have let me bring it."

"When have I ever been able to stop you doing a damn thing?" Jimmy grumbles in reply. He manages to get the zip open, free the keycard, and open the door without dropping any of the towels he's holding. Duncan is only holding the flask, because he's a useless drunk. 

That's not true, Jimmy doesn't really mean it. 

They make it into the suite, not at all graceful about it. "'s good Cassie's staying with Maureen," Duncan says, dropping onto the loveseat in the small sitting room. "So she doesn't have to see us pissed."

"Speak for yourself." 

He sees Duncan crack one eye open. "Seriously, Jimmy?"

"You drank most of the whisky," Jimmy replies, sitting down next to him. Duncan's only response is a hum, and to lean close. Jimmy slides an arm around him - the loveseat is small enough that they'd be touching no matter what, and this is more comfortable than Duncan's bony shoulder digging into his - then picks up the television remote. "If you fall asleep, I'm leaving you here," he warns. "And I don't think you'' be wanting that neck ache in the morning."

"Mm, probably not," Duncan mumbles, his breath warm on Jimmy's shoulder. 

His Spanish isn't good enough for most of what's on, but one of the channels is showing an old Peter O'Toole movie with Spanish captions, so he leaves that on. After a few minutes, Duncan stirs slightly, and his arm comes up to slide over Jimmy's waist. Jimmy holds his breath, waiting for Duncan to realize what he's doing and move away again, but Duncan only says, "Is this _Goodbye, Mr. Chips_?"

"Doubt it could be anything else."

"Wasn't the one actress married to O'Toole at the time?"

Jimmy has to wrack his brain for that one, preoccupied as he is by the weight of Duncan's arm. "I think so. Are you comfortable?"

"Mm? Very." Duncan's hand, lax until now, splays hot over Jimmy's ribcage. Jimmy can't hide the shiver that runs through him. "But... you're not. I'll stop."

He sits up, and rubs a hand over his face. Jimmy waits. "Seemed like a good idea at the time," Duncan says, voice sheepish. One hand hovers, like he's going to pat Jimmy's knee, but then he seems to think different of it. "Chalk it up to all the drinking. I'll, uh - see you in the morning."

Duncan's gone into his room before Jimmy can even think about what he might want to say.

*

There's a note from Cassie on the hotel stationary the next morning: _On the beach, see you later!_ , and when Jimmy goes over to check on the gently rippling curtain, he finds Duncan's already sitting out on the balcony with a cuppa. He's still in his pyjamas and his eyes are closed. If not for the steady balance of the nearly-full mug in his hand, Jimmy would think him asleep.

"I know what you're thinking, Jimmy," Duncan says, not opening his eyes. "The bastard drank twice what I did, how did he manage to get out of bed earlier? Truly, a mystery for the ages." 

Jimmy groans in response and goes to find his own cup of tea. There's an electric kettle set up, so the water's quick. "You get breakfast?" he asks Duncan.

"Mm, no, didn't go down to the continental yet." 

That's right, there's fruit and rolls included with their stay. Jimmy settles in the other lounger and takes a drink of his tea. Bread with butter and the local jam sounds good, but in a distant sort of way. "Not sure how motivated I feel to get up now that I've sat down."

Duncan chuckles. "Are you leaving the hotel at all today?"

"Might not." 

Their flight back leaves tomorrow afternoon. "We're not seeing much of anything besides this beach," Duncan says. 

"That's alright with me. This was mostly for Cass. But you don't have to sit up here on my account."

"No, it's nice. Relaxing." He rouses enough to finish off his mug. "We don't usually spend more than the time it takes to have a drink together, Jimmy."

Duncan's not wrong, Jimmy reflects. He comes in for a glass of whisky or a cup of something warm, or Jimmy goes into his place for a few minutes' chat, but one of them is usually picking Cassie up or dropping her off. And Fran - Fran was always there, whenever Duncan would make the trip down to Glasgow, sure that he didn't want to be a father or a husband, but still wanting to know Cassie, wanting Cassie to know him. 

Not for the first time, Jimmy thinks, _if he had wanted to be a father, I never would have known them,_ and has to take a long swallow from his mug to dissolve the ache. 

"You okay?" Duncan asks; there must have been something shown on his face.

"Fine." He reaches a hand over, rests it on Duncan's arm for a brief moment. "I need another cup, you want as well? And maybe change into something that's not your pyjamas."

*

"What do you say we rent one of the hotel umbrellas and hit the beach once more?" Duncan asks a bit later, proving he hasn't actually dozed off; he moves his foot over to knock Jimmy's.

"Mmm, sure, why not." Jimmy put his swim trunks on straightaway this morning, deciding he'd rather not have to change clothes multiple times. "Since we paid for the sun and all."

Duncan huffs a laugh at that. 

They collect towels, keys, and a couple bottles of water, and take the elevator down to the hotel lobby. "Don't look at us in the reflection, we're blinding," Duncan mutters, and Jimmy taps him lightly in the side with an elbow. 

They stake an umbrella into a quieter bit of beach. Duncan can see Cassie and Maureen a ways away, closer to the water, large floppy hats they didn't have before yesterday on their heads. "You think she's having a good time?" he asks Duncan, shaking out his towel. 

"Cass? Aye, think so." Duncan kicks his sandals off and sits down, and Jimmy sees him dig his toes into the warm sand. 

The afternoon heat feels like it's baking into him as he stretches out on his towel, another under his head. Home feels very far away, with the bright blue sky here nearly cloudless, and the crash of the waves somehow sounding different against the sand than against Shetland's rocky cliffs. But he figures home really isn't all that far away, not with Cass a hundred metres or so down the beach, and Duncan watching the sea next to him. 

After a long stretch of comfortable silence, Duncan says, "If you don't want to talk about it, I won't push, but there was a big write-up in the paper about the trial."

"Aye, there was."

Duncan chuckles, shaking his head. Jimmy gives him a smile he knows is lazy and watches Duncan's expression lift in an unspoken question. "What?"

"I think you've smiled at me more in the last two days than you have in the past year." 

That's probably not a false statement. Jimmy closes his eyes behind his sunglasses and takes a deep breath of the salty air. "What was in the paper was probably most of it," he says. "Jackie and my mum used to be friends, when my mum and dad lived in the main island for a while. I know what she did and I like to believe I'm no slouch at keeping my job and my personal life separate, but it does make you think, when you're sitting in the courthouse, about friends and neighbors... ending up at that defendant's table like Jackie."

He feels Duncan's hand land lightly on his forearm and adds, "I guess I did need a few days away."

"You're a good man, Jimmy," Duncan says, quiet but still pitched to be heard over the other beach-goers. "And Jackie Haldane killed two people for a stupid secret."

Jimmy puts his hand on top of Duncan's and squeezes. "Aye."

*

"Oh, so you're next to me on the plane as well, eh?" Duncan teases, as Jimmy stows his bag.

"'course." He pulls a sweater on, then looks down at Duncan for a second before taking his seat. "You're going to be cold."

"I'm not putting on long sleeves until Edinburgh," Duncan mutters. He nudges Jimmy's shoulder companionably as they buckle in. "At the earliest."

Jimmy watches Cassie and Maureen settle into the row across from theirs, and Kirsten and Callum in front of them, then turns his gaze back to Duncan, who is already looking at him. "Are you doing that thing where you think you might need a vacation to unwind from your vacation?" Duncan asks, eyebrows raised. 

"No, no. The travel itself notwithstanding, that was actually quite relaxing."

"I suppose it helps that we didn't do anything the entire time," Duncan murmurs. Jimmy sees him tuck his feet a little more underneath the seat in front of him and folds his hands on his chest. The flight attendant comes up the aisle, checking that all the bins are latched. "You know, I think we should do it more often."

Jimmy takes out his mobile and sets it to airplane mode. "What, go to Spain?" 

"Sit around and do nothing."

"Without talking?"

Duncan starts to laugh, his shoulders shaking, amusement crinkling the corners of his eyes. "Aye. Don't we get along better that way?" 

Jimmy smothers a smile in his hand and tucks his mobile away as the light comes on.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I have made this a series in case I decide to write the NSFW parts - could happen, as I am one of those authors who will randomly bash out a sequel!


End file.
